Hey, this is one of my Stanford essays. It in the character limit so I'm good there just any feedback or advice would be great!
What Matters to you and why?
Responsibility matters to me above all else. For many this is just a word put onto motivational posters but for me it is so much more. This is because I had to learn to be responsible from a younger age than most of my peers. It started when I was about 11 years old and my mom began working four jobs just to make ends meet. Because she was rarely at home, all the household responsibilities fell on me. It was up to me to watch my younger sister, clean the house, take care of the horses and dogs, cook dinner, and delegate appropriate tasks to my sister. In addition, because I was home alone, I had to learn self-discipline so that I would get my schoolwork done even though my mom was not hanging over my shoulder. I never thought anything of this; for me it was completely normal but I have come to realize over the years that none of my friends have to do any of this; they don't even make their own school lunches! Of course, there have been times that I did not want to do the work but I knew if I did not do it, it would not be done.
Having all of these home responsibilities has given me the ability to be to responsible in everyday life. This has led me to be able to lead the cross-country team as well as the various clubs in which I hold an office. On the cross-country team, there is an inexplicable sense that I am responsible for the younger runners. I cannot pin point exactly what it is, but I feel I should be there for them in either running or any part of their lives if they need me. It is my job to mentor them and make them not only better runners but to also make them more mature people, and believe me, some of them need to be more mature.
I have lived my whole life having more responsibilities than my peers do and I used to hate it. However, now I thank my mom because I possess a sense of responsibility not only for my own actions, but also for the actions of others.
